Civil War Encampment
Saturday and Sunday
May 14 and 15, 2005
To celebrate the opening of its 56th season, the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum will present a Civil War encampment on Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, 2005. Costumed re-enactors will commemorate the end of the war and the return to normal life with the recreation of daily camp activities of both men and women on the grounds of the 1752 historic house. Activities will include a presentation of “shape note” singing, an exhibit of costumes representing the era 1860-1864, drill demonstrations, and tours of the museum. Saturday and Sunday events begin at 10:00 am and end at 4:00 pm each day. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children and includes a tour of the museum.
The encampment is coordinated by the 15 th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry who will be joined by members of the 37 th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry corps, based locally, as well as Confederate and civilian living historians. The 15th Massachusetts which is headquartered at the Clara Barton Birthplace Museum in Oxford include approximately twenty active members who attend a dozen or more events each year in New England, as well as at major battle sites along the East Coast. Local hosts of the encampment are 15 th MVI members Bradd Libby and Siw Schroeder of Hadley.
The last shots of the War Between the States were fired on the banks of the Rio Grande River at Palmito Hill, Texas, May 12-13, 1865, more than a month after the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox. One hundred forty years later, the weekend encampment will celebrate and commemorate the end of the war and the return to normal life. Saturday morning re-enactors will march to the West Street Common, birth site of Union general Joseph Hooker, a Hadley native, and to the Old Hadley Cemetery, resting place of Union veterans. Camp-side at the museum events will include demonstrations of the arms and equipment used by soldiers of the period and drill demonstrations. Women will demonstrate camp-side cooking and barbering as well as the production of new clothing for the homecoming soldiers.
In addition to the costumed re-enactors there will be an exhibit of reproduction ladies clothing from 1860-1864. Period dresses will include a Peterson's ball gown in silk rust check with suspenders and sash, a green linen walking dress with French inspired “Zouave” decoration, and a blue silk day dress with large bell shaped sleeves. There will also be a demonstration of periodic clothing pattern construction for jackets.
On Saturday, May 14 th , members of the Northampton-based Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Community singers will give demonstrations of ‘shape note' singing, a traditional ‘a capella' style of music sung in the eastern part of the United States since colonial times. The group, which meets weekly and is always seeking new members, performed recently at the Northampton Academy of Music's Four Sundays in February “Really Big Show.” Members of the group also sang on the soundtrack of the 2003 Civil War film “Cold Mountain.” The demonstrations of ‘shape note' singing will be held at 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm and will last about an hour.
The Civil War was one of the most dramatic events in the life of the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House. "By celebrating this year's opening with an encampment that commemorates the end of the War Between the States, the museum hopes to complement the local and social history it presents, with the history of a national event," says Susan J. Lisk, the museum's director.
Admission to each day's celebration is $4.00 for adults and $2.00 for children twelve and under and includes a tour of the historic house museum. Traditional baked goods and beverages will be sold.